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 he Guardian G2 Poker Column |
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| Victoria
Coren |
| Monday April 02,
2007 |
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The big news this week is that actor Michael Greco (formerly
"EastEnders heartthrob Michael Greco") has won the Cardiff leg of the Grosvenor
UK Poker Tour. This is an excellent result for poker: when Sky News trumpets
"Soap star pockets £100,000!", this can only attract more players to the
game.
The GUKPT was already shaping up to be a hugely successful
tournament series before this newsworthy win. The time was ripe to create a
British triplet for the World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour. The first
three events have been well attended, due to the satellite tournaments in
Grosvenor casinos nationwide (allowing players to win cheap entry tickets), and
the goodwill created by sponsors Blue Square adding money to every prize pool.
My only quibble with Cardiff is that the prize structure was a little steep:
£3,150 seems too small a reward for finishing 11th out of 315, for
example. But it's possible I only think that because I came 11th. |
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The series' broadcast on Channel 4 later
this year, combined with Greco's publicity, can only boost the numbers and
prize pools further. A significant result for all players, as well as being a
psychological boost for Greco himself. He will be enjoying the sense of having
proven something to those who saw him only as the Bloke Off Celebrity Love
Island and couldn't take him seriously at the table. He certainly plays more
seriously than Jimmy White, who snatched the 2003 Poker Million away from Joe
Beevers in the last "surprise celebrity victory".
We female poker
players know what it's like when people make assumptions about your game based
on irrelevant factors. Greco must be feeling vindicated, and I'm delighted for
him. For anybody else with something to prove: satellites are running now for
the next GUKPT event, in Manchester.
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